The Woodland Tombs of Eliantar

by Gary Gaugler, Jr

  Chapter 11

  The next day Ara, Vale, and Forr were finally out of Steedo. The winds had died down, the mountains lie behind them, and once more the suns lit the sky. They were thoroughly exhausted, but simply with the change in atmosphere their moods were greatly improved.

  “The moment that we stepped out of those mountain paths, the winds died down,” Ara exclaimed. “How is that possible?”

  “You may not believe in the gods and their powers,” Forr smirked. “That does not mean they do not exist.”

  The situation with Destor and Sorpa had become even more mysterious over the past few days, but just knowing they were heading back to Castle Village seemed to put them at ease. Vale and Ara laughed and shared many an amusing story as they strolled through the flowery fields of Eliantar. Forr did not approve and though he continued to warn that he had an impending sense of dread, he could get no clear visions to prove it. With no solid reason to be fearful at this moment, Ara saw no reason not to maintain a positive attitude and it was clear to him that Crown Prince Vale felt the exact same way.

  With that in mind they sauntered along at a quick pace, thrilled with the knowledge that they should be arriving back at the Ivory Towers tomorrow around midday. More than once Ara was sure he’d caught Vale looking at him with more than friendship in his eyes, but every time he’d glance over to confirm this, the Prince had looked away.

  This bit of knowledge made Ara’s heart soar with happiness. In spite of all the terrible things that were occurring, just being in Vale’s presence gave him an intoxicating sense of peace.

  “Do you suppose this will be over soon?” Vale asked after they had just finished a lunch of fruit that they had found on some wild trees. “That is, do you think the Royal Guard will find Sorpa Veneficus quickly so we can understand the attempt on my life? After all, I think we had both expected these problems to be resolved by now.”

  “I certainly hope so,” Ara sighed.

  “If I don’t get a wash down soon and burn these filthy clothes, I think I’ll have killed off the whole land myself before Sorpa gets the chance.”

  They both laughed for quite a while at this. It was true. When they had started their journey, they had looked like vagrants, but now they appeared like vagrants that hadn’t seen any form of civilization in years. Forr came walking over, having finished his meal and obviously eager to get home.

  “The Royal Guard has been trained for generations to deal with traitors and assassins like this. She may be good at hiding, but she won’t be so good as to elude our security.”

  “I have to be honest,” said Ara. “I truly believe that this Sorpa Veneficus is a maniac. While that’s dangerous for us, it’s more dangerous for her. I think she’s been lucky enough to get a few other crazy allies to assist her, but that’s it. Vale, she has no plan, other than to cause chaos. In my opinion, the army will find her and she will be arrested with no problems.”

  The Prince looked relieved. Ara stared at Vale’s torn clothes and greasy, black hair peeking out from his scarf. Even in his disheveled state, he was beautiful to Ara.

  “Even if she does succeed, you still have a chance,” Ara went on. “You haven’t looked like royalty in over a week. If we fail, you’ll be able to look like a member of her undead army and she’ll never find you. It definitely couldn’t hurt that you must smell like death right now as well.”

  Vale punched Ara in the arm. It was hard, harder than Ara had expected the Prince to hit. Thank goodness he learned a few things from the self-defense classes.

  “Would you two stop it?” snapped Forr. “We’re wasting time and I would like to be in my chambers again by tomorrow. Honest to gods, you both act and look at each other as though you’ve never seen another man before.”

  The moment quickly became awkward and Vale hurriedly pulled himself to his feet. Ara, also feeling tense from the situation rose and brushed himself off. He cursed himself under his breath for once again lacking the confidence to express what he felt.

  “We really should get going,” Vale said quietly. “We also need to formulate a plan on how we’re going to issue the alarm for the Royal Guard to find the necromancer.”

  “You keep talking about it like it’s terribly complicated,” Ara said, finally able to meet Vale’s eyes again. “Don’t we go into the castle and you announce that we’re in danger and order the army to go find her?”

  “Well, yes,” laughed Vale. “But, the army is made up of hundreds of Elites. When they leave the castle, everyone will wonder what is going on. As far as I know whenever the Royal Guard has been sent out, the king or queen has always made some kind of declaration to the people. I would like to avoid that.”

  “I agree,” Forr nodded. “My advice would be to say nothing at this time. It’s for their own good.”

  “Say nothing?” Ara couldn’t believe his ears. “Everyone will be talking. They’ll wonder what is going on and if they’re in danger.”

  “Let them talk. If there is no announcement, they will hopefully think it is a training exercise and that there is nothing to fear. If I’m right on this, we’ll have captured Sorpa within a day, if they travel by stallop, and there will be no need for concern.”

  Ara was very concerned at the idea of sending the army out without alerting the public to a potential threat. But, they had very little to go by besides a few suspicions. Vale would look a fool if he alerted the public over nothing. There was no proof that Sorpa Veneficus was alive, much less behind the assassination attempt.

  “I think that the best bet is to have the Royal Guard leave the castle in the middle of the night,” Vale went on. “No one in the Castle Village will know that the Royal Guard has left if they do it in the dead of the night. We can order them to do as we did when we left the castle and simply avoid major cities and towns once they’re away from Ivory Towers.”

  “I suppose that sounds reasonable,” Ara said quietly. “I’m just hoping that this isn’t worse than we are assuming and that you don’t live to regret not issuing a formal warning. I know we think this will be simple now that the Royal Guard is to be involved. I just hope that remains true.”

  “If it comes to that then there will be time,” Forr said reassuringly. “But, until that time comes, I think we should keep the Elites from panicking. It wouldn’t benefit them anyway. No one has threatened Castle Village. We would only frighten them for nothing and I’m sure they’re still a bit shaken from the assassination attempt as it is.”

  Ara bit his tongue and kept walking. Ara Tataman’s job was to serve as bodyguard and General of the Royal Guard. He worked for the Prince and the Prince could certainly undermine him, but he couldn’t help but worry about the possible outcome.

  The next several hours seemed to drag on forever. If there was one thing that the men were getting tired of seeing, it was one field after another. As far as they could see, in every direction, there were only sunflower fields and crop patches. The occasional tree would break up the otherwise bland scenery. It had been their intention to avoid roads and towns, at the risk of Vale being recognized and they had been successful. The few times they’d see a cottage or the markings of a worn path, they had veered away. Now even Ara, who abhorred society, would have loved nothing more than to see something besides plant life.

  When the suns had finally begun to set, Ara stopped and stared down a ravine at a structure that he had never seen before.

  “What is that?!” he asked in awe. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen a building like that before in my life.”

  “We need to settle down for the night anyway,” Vale sighed, exhausted. “Let’s head down the gorge and make camp there.”

  As they eased their way down the slope, Ara stared at the magnificent edifice. Though not as grandiose and elegant as the Ivory Towers, this structure had a raw beauty about it. It looked to be made entirely of a rich, black wood. The polished first level loo
ked to be about sixty square feet and from there a thin spire rose from the center five hundred feet into the sky. The spire, like the base was a polished, black wood that came to a point where it touched the sky.

  When they reached the bottom of the ravine, Ara followed Vale as he circled the perimeter of the building. He noticed for the first time that large oval shaped chunks of rock surrounded the entire structure. Each one was a few feet taller than Ara and there were several feet in between each one.

  “This place is so amazing,” Ara said. “What is it?”

  “It’s called the Chronometer Cathedral,” Vale explained. And I can’t believe you’ve never heard of it before. It was my favorite children’s story when I was a young boy.”

  “Your Highness, he’s been largely uneducated on so many aspects of this land,” Forr sighed. “I’m not quite sure why you’d be surprised that he’s not familiar with the Cathedral.”

  Now, facing the front of the large structure, Ara looked to the top and saw that it was actually a clock tower. An enormous triangle of green, cracked glass was at the top on this side and three giant silver hands adorned the face. They each looked to be about twenty feet long and extremely heavy. Both the face and the hands appeared as though they were made with precious gems and metals; a prime target for thieves, but alas there appeared no way to climb the smooth obelisk. He also noticed that the hands were not moving.

  “I don’t understand,” he said. “This was part of a child’s fable, but it’s obviously real. I mean, I’ve never heard of legend before that was in a fairy tale and turned out to not be a farce.”

  “Go up the steps to the door and read what’s on the podium,” Vale suggested. “You’ll see what I’m talking about.”

  Ara approached the building slowly. There were enormous black doors at the top of the few steps that looked as though they hadn’t been opened in years. Large heavy locks adorned the entryways from bottom to top, making entry impossible.

  As he made his way up the ebony steps, he noticed a dark grey podium a few feet before the doors. It was barely noticeable in the shadow of the dark spire. When he came to it, he glanced down and saw that words had been inscribed into the stone. Though the words appeared as though they’d been carved in ages ago, they were still clearly legible and he began to read it aloud.